1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to structures, mechanisms, methods and systems used for storing and retrieving articles, such as passenger cars.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
In many real estate developments, the space required to park passenger vehicles is a large part of the cost. It is desirable to minimize this cost. An automated parking structure in which vehicles are parked in close proximity without the space needed to open and close doors or for people to enter or exit the vehicles can increase the number of vehicles parked in a given volume or surface footprint. Such structures may use vehicle moving equipment to pick and place the vehicles into parking slots. These structures usually require that various parts of the parking structure, including the transfer room(s) through which the vehicles enter and leave the parking structure, have fixed elements that, in these designs, are required to interact with some form of vehicle moving equipment. For example, some automated parking structures require that the transfer room have a floor with one or more open slots through which parts of a vehicle transfer apparatus can pass. In these systems, the vehicle moving equipment is thicker than the space allowed by the vehicle ground clearance. Slots are therefore required to enable the prior vehicle moving equipment to pass under the vehicle body so that it may engage the vehicle without damaging its bodywork. Similar slots are then required in the parking storage space to allow the vehicle to be placed there by the prior vehicle moving equipment. These slots, grooves and similar accommodations add cost and complexity to the parking structure. Further, they make it difficult to change the size of a parking space as the slots, grooves or other accommodations are often integral with the fixed floor and can not be moved or easily modified. Finally, the addition of slots, grooves and similar accommodations may increase the thickness of each parking floor, thereby potentially reducing the number of parking floors possible in a structure of a given height. However, as vehicle demographics change, it may be desirable for a garage operator to be able to either widen or narrow the parking spaces to maximize revenue at that facility or adjust to a change in the size mix of vehicles using the facility.
An additional consideration in the design of an automated parking structure is the amount of time required to place or retrieve a vehicle, known as vehicle throughput. The prior art generally carries out various steps in the parking process in sequence, for example by waiting until the apparatus has moved under the vehicle to adjust the vehicle moving equipment to accommodate the wheelbase of the vehicle to be transferred. This is a sequential operation and thus requires time for the equipment to first move under the vehicle, locate a first set of tires, adjust to that location, and then determine the position of the second set of tires and adjust to that position. The sequential nature of this operation is thus one of the factors directly affecting the throughput of the garage. A solution that eliminates or reduces the time lost adjusting the equipment to the particular vehicle to be moved has not been demonstrated in the prior art. However, measuring the wheelbase of an incoming vehicle prior to it being engaged by the vehicle transfer apparatus of the present invention, and then preadjusting the vehicle transfer apparatus while it is approaching the vehicle, will eliminate loss of time. This will improve the operation of the parking facility by lessening the time required to adjust the vehicle transfer apparatus to the particular wheelbase of the vehicle to be moved.
Another consideration in the design of an automated parking structure is the desired orientation of vehicles as they are retrieved from the parking structure. That is, the designer must consider whether, when the vehicle is returned to its driver, it is to be oriented so that it can be driven out of the transfer room in a forward direction, or if it is acceptable to return the vehicle so that it must be driven out in reverse. In the present invention, this problem is addressed by incorporating a turntable and a bi-directional dolly. The turntable is operable to rotate the vehicle at least 180 degrees, while the bi-directional dolly enables the vehicle to be retrieved or deployed from either side of the vehicle transfer apparatus such that the vehicle can be oriented in the transfer room ready for an easy exit.